Lorina's Blog

costumes

To some, Halloween is a day. Perhaps a few days, if the holiday itself happens to be on a weekday, and the parties are the weekend before. Maybe the die-hards consider all of October to be Halloween season. For me, it stretches from the first time there’s that crisp autumn smell in the air until Thanksgiving.

Ok, truthfully, it’s always something that’s on the back of my mind. I start thinking about next year’s costumes before I even wear this year’s. I’m excited as hell that Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander is going to be a tv show this year, and even more so that the actress who’ll play Claire has dark brown hair. YES! No wigs next year! Not for me, anyway. Fritz might need some help in the hair department to be Jamie. Shh… don’t tell him yet. He hates wigs as much as I do. But thankfully, he loves wearing a kilt. And he subscribes to the “Happy Wife, Happy Life” philosophy.

Anyway, back to this year. Our final costume event of the season was Wednesday, at another Headbanger’s Ball party. You might remember we dressed up in September for the first one, and were bestowed the titles of Most Metal Warrior and Most Metal Wench. Well, I can’t repeat a costume, so we went in the direction of 90’s Psychedelic Metal and channeled Rob Zombie and Sean Yseult of White Zombie.

I got a thrift store jean jacket for Fritz, and went to town painting it to resemble the jacket Rob wore in the “Thunder Kiss ’65” video. I printed out some of the album art and logos onto cardstock, and cut stencils for the designs to paint on the back, sleeves and front lapels, and zebra print for the front below the pockets. It’s kind of trippy using Martha Stewart skillz on something so dark and heavy. Then I used some faux leather and cut fringe for the back of the sleeves. I sewed silver beads around the collar and on the back, because that’s a cheap and relatively easy way to give the appearance of metal studs. Topped it all off with a Jack Sparrowish pirate wig with dreadlocks, a leopard print scarf, and his Russ Meyers tshirt.

I was originally going to dress like the go-go girl in the video… the one in the cowboy hat and little booty shorts. Then the cold snap hit. No f’n way was I being that bare when it’s 20 degrees and snowing.

Pretty much the day of the party, I was still pondering what to wear, when I remembered a patent leather faux snakeskin jacket I had in the garage. I painted that with more band art, added some funky Lichtenstein-esque leggings that I just HAD to buy when I saw them for $6 at Ross, a zebra tank, the daisy dukes I wore to the last Headbanger’s Ball, cowboy boots from high school, a crazy-loud yellow-blond wig, and a crushed velvet hat from the early 90s.

The results:

The results of the costume contest… Fritz is still the Most Metal Warrior. I was sadly out-wenched, but since the chick had boobs out to THERE and was dressed as a dominatrix, I do concede that she is more metal than me. After all, I’m just a nerd who does Martha Stewarty crafts and likes to play dress-up. 😉

The other result… from being hunched over painting the jackets and slouched on the couch beading the metal studs (while watching Rudolph, because I’m THAT metal), I wrenched my back or neck or shoulder or something and have been in pain for three days now. Do you understand how hard it is to listen to a band do kickass covers of Megadeth, Metallica, Motorhead, Guns n Roses and Skid Row without being able to bang your head?! Getting old sucks.

I’m not saying these are the last times I’ll post photos of these costumes, because I’d still like to get all dolled up and go to this sandy part of the hiking trails near my house and get some really awesome staged photos. If it ever stops raining and dries out a bit, because I’m pretty sure that sandy area is a mud bog at the moment. But the costumes, like Halloween, are done.

Since my green dragon broke getting into the car the first time I tried to wear him on my shoulder, I chopped him up and repositioned his tail, so he could perch on a bracer on my arm. Kind of like a falconeer would wear. The bracer was made from woven strips of ultra suede, painted to look like worn leather. Instead of actual laces, I cheated and glued elastic in a lacework pattern, so it could just slip off and on.

I wanted fire. I couldn’t think of how to do it. I cut flames from cardboard, painted and added glitter. So much glitter! I figured they already looked very homemade and crafty, so why not just run with it? I used that for the first Halloween party.

In the category of completely pointless detail, I added top-stitching to my dress, to make it look more like the original. But if you’re nose-to-waist with my costume, or touching it, you can’t tell.

Detail you can’t see.

The chest piece of Jorah’s armor needed to be bigger, so I remade that piece, and added a few more straps to hold everything in place. And i swapped out the leather cord lacing on his bracer for elastic cord, just to make things a little easier.

Is that a message by raven? No… but it might be a message about the Baltimore Ravens.

And that was for our first party at a bar last weekend. Sadly, very few people knew who we were. And as such, we didn’t win any prizes. I didn’t expect to. The fun of the costume is the creative process. Besides, the ones that win fall into one of three categories:

1) The woman in the skimpiest Sexy Noun costume. Yeah, we get it. You’re hot. How about showing some imagination instead of ass?

2) The ones with the most friends, when they’re popularity contests instead of judged contests.

3) The ones that are more parade float than costume… the giant productions. I always think, “How do you pee in that thing?”

So… yeah. I’ll never win.

But at least I can eat, drink, open doors and go to the bathroom without assistance.

After that party, I had a few last minute tweaks. I liked the way Drogon, the black dragon, looked on his dowel, but it was a pain to carry it around. To make him hands-free, I sewed a tube of fabric, and stitched it inside the back of my dress to work as a holster. Bam. Flying dragon, hands free.

I still wanted to find a better way to have them breathe fire. I rooted through my Halloween decorations, looking for something illuminated with LED lights I could take apart… hopefully with long enough wires to hid the battery pack and switch somewhere. Most had stopped working. Poop. But I did have some battery operated tea lights that you’d twist to turn on instead of having a switch. And they were about the same size as the dragons’ snouts. Hmmmm….

I used hot glue (squirted on glass, then glued onto the candle) to make the flames longer, then cut the dragons’ noses (to spite their faces?), and glued, taped and paper mached them into place. A little paint later, and I had fire breathing dragons.

And they’re done. Photos from last night, at a local casino…

I should have made the golden dragon the one flying. He’d show up better.

Our numbered stickers for the costume contest didn’t stay stuck. The only part of my body mine would stick to was my chest.

Finally, a well lit place to take a photo!

There’s nothing like a wooden rod jammed down your spine to keep you from slouching.

Jorah playing the Black Knight and Dany the Golden Goddess. We didn’t win.

Like a virus without a cure, the obsession with zombies grows more and more each year. With tv shows, obstacle courses, walks and pub crawls, zombies aren’t just regulated to Halloween itself anymore. Our city’s Fourth Annual Zombie Walk was this weekend, which is a free event and a fundraiser for Toys for Tots.

My donation? A Zombie Science Set.

And what I love best about it is that virtually everyone’s costumes are handmade and creative.

That’s what’s so great about being a zombie… anyone can do it. You’re just an undead human, so any clothes will do. Rip them up and roll around in the dirt, splatter them with paint or fake blood.

Depending on how long it’s been since you’ve turned, your makeup can be as basic as some blood. If you’ve been dead longer, you’ll want to go grey or green and add some black to your eye sockets, temples and under your cheekbones. Everyday ordinary black and grey eyeshadow can go a long way. Add a little black eyeliner on your lips.

Our Jay & Silent Bob Zombies just used some black and green costume makeup, and a little blood.

If you want more wounds and decay, liquid latex is soooo much fun. It’s easy to use, and doesn’t really require any skill. Just paint it on your face, let it dry, and peel it back to have wounds. Apply red inside, and color the outside with whatever makeup you’re using on your face. For thicker flaps of skin, paint the latex on your face, then stick some toilet paper over it, then another layer of latex, and let dry. Repeat until you get the desired thickness, then rip it.

I started with a section of hose from a swimming pool pump, cut in half. At first, I thought I’d paint and attach the hose itself to my throat, but (and these are the kind of thoughts that run through my brain when I can’t sleep), I realized I could use it as a mold for my latex, and have a lightweight flexible larynx instead.

I applied a layer of latex over the hose with a paint brush, then stuck some TP over it, and brushed/dabbed more latex over that. Then I waited for it to dry, then added a few more layers. You’ll want to brush over the wet tissue gently, because it will tear. For rotted flesh, that just adds to the texture, but I wanted the throat a little smoother.

Once it’s fully dried, gently peel the latex off the hose, and paint it with red and white acrylic paints. Next, I applied latex and tissues to my face and neck as described above for flesh wounds, leaving an empty space in the middle of my throat for the larynx. Once my wounds were dry, I “glued” the prosthetic piece in place with more latex. I could have used spirit gum, but I already had the latex poured onto a paper plate, so… waste not, want not.

For the makeup, I used a blend of flesh tone, green and black. I started to use red makeup inside my wounds, but it wasn’t red enough. I then switched to red acrylic craft paint. It worked great, was the perfect color, and actually washed off better than the red makeup…. I didn’t end up with blotchy red stains on my skin like I did last year. And it dripped and oozed beautifully. As it dried, it flaked a little, just like dried blood really would.

Sadly, I budgeted my time poorly, and was running late to turn Fritz into a zombie as well, so he was a survivor. Since I was wearing my Resident Evil Alice dress (with longer shorts, tights and a leather jacket, since it was cold and windy), we bloodied up his Umbrella Corp shirt from last year so he could be a survivor. I put on rubber gloves and smeared handfuls of red paint on his shirt, leaving handprints as if he’d been mauled, and carried my toy assault rifle.